this morning on "early today," the latest details on the resignation of cia director david petraeus. >> president obama is taking his fiscal cliff argument to a far higher power than congress. we're going to tell you who. >> indiana investigators want to know what caused a massive explosion, damaging over 30 homes, while leveling some explosion, damaging over 30 homes, while leveling some completely. captions paid for by nbc-universal television very good morning to you. i'm remember ron cadel la krus. new details continue to emerge in the scandal that led cia director david petraeus to resign. government officials say after admitting to an extramarital affair with his biographer paula broadwell. multiple sources have revealed the identity of a woman who received harassing e-mails from broadwell and whose complaint to the fbi led to the investigation which uncovered the affair. and there's a growing chorus of questions from lawmakers about exactly when the affair came to

light, who in washington was told about it, and when they were told. nbc's kristen walker has the latest on the controversy. >> reporter: according to a senior federal official and close friend of david petraeus, 37-year-old jill kelly complained to fbi agents about being harassed by paula broadwell, david petraeus's biographer. a senior u.s. military official says jill kelly is involved in wounded warrior fundraising in tampa, is married, she and her husband are close petraeus family friends. officials say the downfall started when kelly complained to the fbi that she was receiving intimidating e-mails from broadwell. law enforcement officers tell nbc news that those e-mails tloed the discovery of others between general petraeus and broadwell and were indicative of an extramarital affair. >> my first reaction was disbelief.

>> reporter: steven boylen is petraeus's former spokesperson and served with him in iraq. he has spoken to petraeus twice this weekend, and says his former boss is remorseful. >> he said he had an excellent job and in his words, he screwed up, and he knows it. >> reporter: a senior law enforcement official told nbc news that fbi agents interviewed general petraeus in late october, and concluded there was no criminal violation. members of congress are asking why the fbi did not inform them or the president sooner. >> we received no advance notice. it was like a lightning bolt. i mean, this is something that could have had an effect on national security. i think we should have been told. there is a way to do it. >> reporter: this comes as we are learning more about the days leading up to petraeus's resignation. house majority leader eric cantor said in late october he was tipped off about the situation. in a statement, cantor said, "i was contacted by an fbi employee concerned that sensitive classified information may have been compromised and made certain director mueller was

aware of these serious allegations and the potential risk to our national security." however, the president first learned about the incident on thursday, the day petraeus offered his resignation. a senior law enforcement official says the agent's call to a congressional staffer had no effect on the petraeus-broadwell investigation. or the timing of the disclosure. still, lawmakers say there are a lot of questions that need to be answered. >> it seems this has been going on for several months, and yet now it appears that they're saying the fbi didn't realize until election day that general petraeus was involved. it just doesn't add up. >> several of petraeus's former aides say broadwell had too much access to the general. she hasn't been shy about sharing details about her relationship with petraeus and their shared interest in running. >> it ended up being a test for both of us since we both ran pretty quickly. but that was the foundation of our relationship. >> that was nbc's kristen walker reporting there. facing the fiscal cliff now.

the president's week is packed with meetings about it. tomorrow and wednesday he'll talk with business leaders and labor representatives in preparation for his first round of bipartisan talks with congressional leaders on friday. nbc's tracie potts joins us now live from washington. tracie, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. before sitting down with republicans and democrats here, the president is going to get input, first tomorrow from progressive groups and labor representatives and then on wednesday from business leaders as well. all of this in an attempt to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff. president obama has said he thinks democrats and republicans need to work together to prevent these tax increases and massive spending cuts. both sides have said they're open to compromise, but they're still at odds over whether or not to tax the wealthy. >> let's have a serious debate. don't scream and yell. it won't kill the country if we raise taxes on millionaires. really, the republican party is going to fall on its swords to

defend a bunch of millionaires, half of whom are democratic and half of whom live in hollywood? >> reporter: republican leader john boehner said when he was talking about being open to new revenue, he was not talking about new tax increases. the president sits down with democrats and republican leaders here on capitol hill on friday. back to you. >> tracie potts in washington. thank you. two weeks after the destruction from hurricane sandy, victims are still trying to put their lives back together. more than 100,000 homes and businesses in new york and new jersey are without electricity as they struggle to rebuild. a 77-year-old man has died from injuries from a fall brunging the city's death toll to 43. homeland security secretary janet nah pop politan know has reaffirmed her commitment to be with those for the duration. now for a look at the weather here is nbc meteorologist bill

karins with the weather channel forecast. give me good news. >> that's depends where you are in the west. >> i want sunshine. >> go south. the northwest isn't pretty. rain and snow in many areas of washington state and oregon state. look at the radar. the green shows you where the rain is. the white is the snow and the cold air trying to hang tough. northern idaho and spokane dealing with snow. in spokane, you could end up with an inch or two. temperatures should warm up during the day. looks like we're just about done with it in areas near yakima. portland, looking at mostly just rain and scattered showers around seattle. as far as snow accumulations go, additional accumulations three to six. in spokane, you'll probably top out somewhere around a slushy two inches. as far as the forecast in northern california, the southern portion of the system dragging showers onshore. i-5 should dry out heading north towards the border with oregon. higher pressure protects the four corners region. that usually means dry cool

conditions in the southwest. look at vegas, high only 58. sunny and nice. not bad l.a., san diego and phoenix. just in the northwest the storm system moving through and out during the day today. press cot, arizona, a cool 56, but at least you're sunny and dry. it is cold in alaska. i'll show you how cold coming up a little later. it's winter. >> i said sunshine, bill. >> it may be sunny, but it's freezing. a british woman is divorcing her husband for refusing to recreate scenes from "fifty shades of gray." prescription drugs doing more damage than heroin and cocaine combined. jesse jackson junior may be

negotiating a plea deal that could end his career in congress and might even include jail time. you're watching "early today."

good morning. here are some of the top stories we're watching this morning. president obama marked veterans day with a traditional wreath laying at the tomb of the unknowns at arlington national cemetery. during his remarks, he noted it's the first anniversary in a decade without troops serving in iraq. high tide in venice has reached its sixth highest level since recordkeeping began 150 years ago. a massive bush fire in southern australia has burned at least 5,000 acres and destroyed at least seven homes. several animals have been rescued including this injured koala that was taken to an animal hospital for treatment for burns.

the blue gingham dress worn by judy garland in the wizard of oz has sold for $480,000. a british woman is divorcing her husband after rehe fused to recreate scenes in "fifty shades of grey." she cites his, quote, boring attitude towards sex as evidence of unreasonable behavior which is one of five grounds for divorce in united kingdom. the l.a. times is reporting that prescription drug overdoses now out number deaths from heroin and cocaine combined. they're caused by narcotic-based pain killers and lead to over 15,000 deaths each year. s oxycodone has 300 million prescriptions a year. with that fiscal cliff hanging over wall street and

main street, some investors are worried last week's post election selloff could gather steam. after the worst weekly percentage drop since juns, the s&p is less than four points from correction territory. this week we'll get new numbers for sales for october and two key inflation reports. overseas this morning, news that japan's economy saw its first retraction renewed fierce that the economy may be headed for reception. good news for greece, a 2013 austerity budget was approved. elsewhere, apple and taiwanese smart phone maker htc settled a patent bat wl a ten-year licensing agreement. meanwhile it looks like ticketmaster is about to see a major threat to the share of the market thanks to a partnership between stubhub, paypal and aeg. believe it or not, thanksgiving is less than two weeks away. so how much does it cost to host the big day?

a new survey finds it will run you about $246 this year. but it looks like more people may skip seconds to get a head start on black friday shopping. toys "r" us is the latest store to announce it will open at 8:00 p.m. on thanksgiving day along with walmart and sears. coming up, a massive explosion roxanne indianapolis neighborhood, plea deal time for congressman jesse jackson junior, plus your nfl highlights. those are straight ahead. you're watching "early today."

other stories making news "early today" in america now. we begin with what could potentially be an end to jesse jackson jr.'s political career. cbs chicago reporting that plea deal is in the works for the newly re-elected congressman that could include his resignation and jail time. the illinois lawmaker is under investigation for allegedly misusing over $40,000 of his campaign funds. jackson is currently battling depression stemming from a bipolar disorder and receiving treatment from doctors at the mayo clinic. next to indianapolis, where investigators want to know what caused a massive explosion that left two people dead and dozens homeless. the powerful blast ignited a massive fire that destroyed or damaged approximately over 30 homes. the cause of the explosion is uncertain, but the concussion was felt up to three miles away. finally, it was flying day this past weekend in san francisco. 33 teams did their best to take flight at the tenth annual red

bull flugtag. competitors launched their homemade aircrafts into mccovey cove from a 30-foot platform. judges graded on flight time, creativity and showmanship. there she blows. moving on to sports. the los angeles lakers have a new coach. so much for phil jackson returning to the l.a. lakers. mike d'antoni, former coach for the knicks and suns, is the new boss for the lakers, replacing mike brown. on sunday night football, texans and bears in houston scored a touchdown on a diving catch by arian foster that just crossed the goal line, and the texans won the defensive battle in the second half for a 13-6 win. new orleans' drew brees threw for three touchdowns as the saints ended the falcons' chance for a perfect season. new orleans sealed a 31-27 victory. the baltimore ravens set a club record in scoring during a 55-20 rout of oakland, and in overtime, st. louis and san

francisco played to a tie 24-24. alabama's loss to texas a&m puts kansas state in first place and in the bcs rankings. oregon moves up to number two. notre dame number three. alabama drops to four. georgia is now fifth. lance armstrong sent a twitter photo this weekend of himself casually lying on a couch in front of all of these jerseys from the tour de france wins that were erased because of the books. you know, the whole doping thing. and the message with the photo reads "just back in austin, laying around" yeah, i'm just lance. just ahead, 007 mania reaches the united states. and say it isn't so. bieber and gomez no more? plus, a telltale sign that the holidays are upon us. you're watching "early today."

welcome back. some of the coldest temperatures in the northern portions of america. minus 15 in fairbanks. this pool of cold air sooner or later will probably make a run to the south. it's that time of year where the days are very short, not a lot of sunlight left in fare banks. minus 2. anchorage at 32. juneau rain showers. in the northwest, rain and snow moving through. spokane has snow this morning.

we're fine from vegas to phoenix and los angeles. as i mentioned tomorrow, things do begin to improve. still showers around. but the worst of it is this morning. >> you know what was really strange about that, you had minus two degrees but you still had a sun behind snit. >> again, there's not a lot of sunlight in alaska this time of year. >> bizarre. and very cold. let's head now to some entertainment news. bond took over the box office this weekend. "skyfall", the 23rd installment in the 007 franchise scored the highest ever opening for a bond film with $87.8 million. it was the fourth biggest after the avengers and the hunger games. "lincoln" also fared well, making close to $1 million in just 11 theaters before its wide release this weekend. here's a fun fact for you. daniel day-lewis wouldn't even break character on set, leading people to believe that he actually thought he was abraham lincoln.

the mtv europe music awards took place sunday night and it turns out our friends across the atlantic love some of the same people we do. taylor swift took home three awards. >> not used to her harriet. >> one direction picked up two wins. and then youtube sensation psy won best video for his megahit "gangnam style." justin bieber was the biggest winner as he took home three trophies, including best world stage performer. best pop performer. speaking of the biebs, his awards last night weren't his biggest news this weekend. after weeks of speculation, justin bieber and selena gomez are calling it quits. e news exclusively broke the story after seeing him out and about with a 19-year-old victoria's secret model. his 30 million followers on twitter nearly broke twitter as they sent out messages of support and relief.

this now comes to us from wnbc 4 in new york city where in east rutherford, new jersey, they got a view at hello kitty and elf on the shelf for test flights. with less than two weeks until the 86th annual parade, the crews rehearsed aerial moves to ensure a safe flight on the parade route. i'm veronica de la cruz. this is "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station.

in rome, thousands of flash

mobbers, where "gangnam style" is going strong. about 15,000 people flooded the square to dance. social media was used to spread news of the flash fob. in switzerland, one pastry really is big enough for everyone to have a bite. check this out. to celebrate his shop's 25th anniversary, a pastry chef has made the world's longest napoleon. the colossal cream cake took 200 people to make and measured nearly 4,000 feet long. it broke the belgian record from 1992, and all proceeds from its sale will benefit the swiss breast cancer association. hundreds of japanese military cadets took part in a bizarre game called capture the pole. the object of the game is for an offensive team to lower the pole of a defensive team by any means necessary.

cadets can be seen kicking and punching each other on the way to the top of the pole. amazingly, at the end of the day, only one cadet suffered minor injuries. only in japan. >> wow. >> you look stunned. >> i've just never seen that before. >> how would you like to be the guy on the top of the pole? >> i'd be fine. i'd be hitting everyone behind me. i wouldn't want to be the one on the bottom. time now for a look at the stories we'll follow right here on nbc. americans across the country continue to salute the nation's veterans. today in observance of veterans day, city, county, and federal offices will be closed as well as banks, courts and libraries. in washington, a special exhibition called the civil war in america goes on display at the library of congress. it commemorates the 150th anniversary of the civil war. and on this day in 1942, the war ii the naval battle of

graudal canal began. it was the site of the allies' first pivotal offensive in the pacific and a major victory over japanese forces. all day long, you can stay on top of the latest developments in those stories and others as they break on msnbc. tonight, be sure to watch brian williams with "nbc nightly news." here's a look at what's coming up later this morning on the "today" show. hear details on david petraeus's resignation. also, british singing sensation susan boyle, she'll be live in studio to perform a hit from her upcoming album. keep it on this channel for continuing local news, weather, sports and much more. i'm veronica de la cruz. thank you so much for watching "early today," just your first stop of the day today on your nbc station. enjoy your holiday.